Batman #26

"THE WAR OF JOKES AND RIDDLES" part two! The Riddler and The Joker escalate their bloody feud, and the villains of Gotham City are forced to choose sides or be caught in the crossfire! It's up to Batman to push himself to the limit and keep innocent citizens out of harm's way.

Tom King and Mikel Janin keep pushing the Bat-Envelope by telling and beautiful yet brutal story of batman's second year in action. As the Joker and Riddler continue to spill Gotham blood all over the streets, it is now up to Batman to determine what he is going to do to stop The War of Jokes and Riddles. Read Full Review

Batman #26 is an excellent comic. From cover to cover, it never falters. The art is absolutely fantastic, every picture is amazing. Writer Tom King has us in the palm of his hand with this story arc. He is slowly building something big here; the depth of character and realistic nature of the action leaves us salivating for more. I can't wait for what comes next. Read Full Review

Maybe the most interesting aspect of the story so far is how powerless Batman truly is in stopping this war. Despite the accolades, the detective acumen and his superhero allies, Batman is just a man trying to stop madmen from making his city a war zone. Can he stop it is the main question, but it sure has become a fascinating read watching these villains bring hell to Gotham. Read Full Review

There is action here, but less of it than you'd expect. The book seems content to mostly stick to a sense of gathering tension, showing us that things are reaching a boiling point and that we are indeed headed towards a war. The issue pulls this off rather well, with the tone, dialogue, and art all lending themselves to this cause. The art is dark and gothic, with an added sense of hopelessness as the bodies of the dead pile up. Everyone is in character, with the exception of the Joker, who is uncharacteristically grim and unamused throughout so far. This works for the story though, and King pulls this Joker off with style. This is a great arc to start picking Batman up on if you haven't been. Reading the issue, you just know things are going to explode. Read Full Review

All in all, WOJAR is off to a great start and establishes a very strong foundation for what could be another classic Batman story. If you haven't yet tried King's Batman so far, this is an awesome opportunity to jump in for new readers. Read Full Review

Loved it! This is exactly the kind of story I can get behind. It's just old-school enough to appeal to the nostalgic in me, but likewise, there's just as much fresh material to make me feel like I'm looking at something original. It basically pays homage to the past while simultaneously carving out a new and exciting future for itself, and that's simply fantastic. So…sit back, relax, and let Batman tell you the most disturbing bedtime story ever. Read Full Review

Jann and Chung remain top notch for bringing brightness and sunshine to one of Batman's darkest hours, the color work makes this a sight comic a sight behold and while the lack of Batman doesn't hurt, it'll be interesting to see how the Bat will combat the coming weeks of war in his city with a bold lineup of Rogues under the leadership of Riddler and Joker. Read Full Review

So far, The War of Jokes and Riddles is a lot of sadistic fun, and while it is another dark and brooding Batman story, sometimes those are the best ones. There's just enough intrigue and mystery just around the shadowy corner of this arc to be excited to see where it goes, even if it does seem a bit disturbing at times. King has proven he can deliver an ending before, and I am hopeful that this story cements his run as another iconic tale in the bat-history. I recommend this book, as well as Batman #25, which started this arc. Read Full Review

While Batman #26’s big moment will surely be known as the showstopping double-page splash of the entire Batman villain roster taking their respective sides over a marked-up map of Gotham, the character moments sell this comic better than any splash page ever could. With Tom King’s emotional focus on character and mood and Janin and Chung’s precisely bone-chilling artwork, Batman #26 portends the opening salvos of a war that’s as lovely as it is gut-wrenching. Read Full Review

A visual feast as the story continues to build to war. Enjoyable, but two back-to-back issues of story building has me expecting a major confrontation among the villains. My grade could change based on how this saga concludes. Read Full Review

"The War of Jokes and Riddles" is shaping up to be another classic Batman tale for King and Janin. This issue doesn't do much to push forward the present-day portion of the conflict, but it does built a growing sense of unease and showcase both Joker and Riddler at their best. And Janin's gorgeous art is yet another reminder that he and King make an excellent team. Read Full Review

This weeks issue is very solid, the characters work really well. The dialogue is fantastic and you would want to read the villains talk for pages and pages. The art is almost 3d-like, and it creates a very immersive experience when reading. Not a whole lot happens in this issue, something that I hope changes in the next chapters of the story. Read Full Review

Despite this being part two of an ongoing arc, I do feel that there is enough in the writing to help new readers catch up almost immediately. It would be helpful to know why the Joker and Riddler are at each others throats but in the end, it isnt as important as the fact that they are. I will be very interested to see how this all pans out and just what horrors await those who are caught in the crossfire between two of Gothams most dangerous residents. Read Full Review

Ultimately, Mikal Janin's art is the reason to add this book to your pull. Previous arcs of this run have featured good and, at times, great art. Janin's work is better than that. With King's sometimes melodramatic Bat-narration and leisurely pacing, the art compels the eye to keep investigating and following along. The greatest rogues gallery in comics looks evil in the best possible sense. Read Full Review

Although I'm still conflicted about this storyline, it does allow Rebirth to bring in several old and new characters as part of the growing factions between the Joker and Riddler. If Kite Man earns this treatment I'm curious to see what else may be in store for other villains. Worth a look. Read Full Review

If King can keep up this quality of writing, gripes aside, this could easily be the standout run of his Batman career. To date, Rooftops is the story to beat when it comes to Kings Batman. If things continue on this path, we could have a new contender. There are problems of course, but Im not under the illusion of King, or anyone for that matter, creating the perfect Batman story. The key will always be whether or not the story is interesting enough to make up for the problems. In this case, were looking good. Read Full Review

King and Janin produce another fantastic issue of Batman that promises high action and fun easter eggs. It is also full of intriguing character work and a great hook. If one can get pass Batman's questionable skills as a savior and the Riddler's serial killer depiction, then it is a highly enjoyable comic. Read Full Review

As I said in the last review, "Batman tends to pick up rather quickly." I was not lying. Tom King's Joker and Riddler feud is a story made in heaven. Chaos vs Order, who doesn't want to read this!? We see Batman racing to stop crimes before they happen only to fail, finding out that whatever is happening to the city will tear it apart. There is a great nod to Tim Burton's 1989 Batman film, as a big Batman fan it brought a smile to my face. (Pun intended) That final panel is amazing! The War of Jokes and Riddles has me wanting the next issue. "It took a few more weeks before the city saw what is was." Read Full Review

If you liked issue #25's opening chapter to "The War of Jokes and Riddles," then you're going to enjoy Batman #26, which does it job in raising the stakes of the conflict and effectively framing this flashback tale of Batman's greatest failure. Bolstered by King's penetrating and fresh take on its two central villains, and featuring absolutely gorgeous art by Mikel Janin, Batman #26 offered further evidence that we might be seeing King's definitive Batman story. Read Full Review

Batman #26 moves “The War of Jokes and Riddles” forward in an interesting fashion, as despite still being in the early days, there's still enough to entice. The story also continue to keep the two key villains firmly in the spotlight, as in spite of Batman making the odd appearance, he is clearly a side-note to this personal battle. Read Full Review

I thought Batman #26 was a great read. It seems that this war is only going to escalate before it gets better. As this series continues I can't wait to see where the allegiances of Two-Face, Black Mask, and maybe even Bane may lie. All have at one point or another controlled Gotham, and I'm sure they may want to again. Read Full Review

King escalates the war between Joker and Riddler nicely, showing how the pair of them think and plan differently in their attacks against each other and especially their recruitment process. 'The War of Jokes and Riddles' is taking shape interestingly, but it's a shame that the issue repeats the same ending as the previous one. Still, from the look of it there's much to be excited for. Read Full Review

Batman #26 is a pretty good second installment of the "War of Jokes & Riddles" storyline that continues to put an interesting spin on two of Batman's most infamous villains with an air of ominousness and intrigue looming above it all. Although we're given some interesting developments between Joker and the Riddler, the war still seems like it's in the build-up stages, which ultimately doesn't give Batman much to do but bemoan for the second issue in a row. Read Full Review

Batman #26 built on what the previous issue established by developing how Joker and Riddler go about building up their army for the upcoming war. The approach each villain takes creates the sense that we are in store for a big event in the life of Batman and history of Gotham City as "The War Of Jokes And Riddles" erupts. And given the villains being assembled for each side Tom King and Mikel Janin are sure to deliver a story that no Batman fan should miss out on reading. Read Full Review

It is really interesting as King shows the different tactics of Joker and Riddler. Riddler seems to talk people into helping him, whilst Joker forces them, but at the end of the day they can both double-cross you. This was a weaker issue than last time, but still wasn’t bad and I am still really hyped for the War of Jokes and Riddles. Read Full Review

While the art in this issue is fantastic, I have to say that the story itself was a bit boring until the end, where I thought it picked up because we finally had the Joker seeming to act like himself again, but even with that, the Riddler continues to feel weird and our title character barely makes an appearance at all. I still look forward to the War of Jokes and Riddles moving forward, but this issue, with the previous make me question whether I actually should. Read Full Review

This issue was garbage.
a)Joker acts a little off. The whole "pulling all the teeth" is more for shock value than something Joker actually would do. He is written better when he prefers the psychological torture than the physical one. Joker isn't Zsasz.
b)Riddler another clone of Zsasz. Drawing a "?" in blood. This is more stupid than him stabbing someone 26 times for each letter of the alphabet. Too much edginess for shock value.
c)The team ups don't make any sense. Zsasz a team player? Deadshot and Freeze with JOKER?
d)Carmine Falcone is written like an incompetence goon not a crime boss.
e)Retelling of Penguin's origin.

I just can't understand how Tom King (the same guy who wrote Vision, Omega men, Sheriff of Babylon)wrote this issue. more

Tom King delivered a very strong continuation to the previous issue. For a Batman book, the titular character does not appear much here. However, I am loving how the whole conflict is building up. And while some may disagree with me, Janin's art really works here with the cinematic double page splits.

The first page is excellent, it preps me for an awesome issue but, unfortunately, I think that was the high point. I'm digging this take of Joker much more than this take of Riddler. Riddler plays off of that classic Joker-asking-for-the-mirror scene, but what is he upset about, having a scar on his abdomen? Who cares? Cutting himself like that kind of stinks of King trying too hard to write all bad-ass. Honestly, it didn't feel like much actually happens in this issue, I hope the plot picks up more in the next one.

I do really like the tension King is setting up with these build up issues! You can really feel how volatile this war is becoming from both the riddler & joker sides while Batman almost isn't involved at all. It makes it really feel like Batman can't do a thing about this confrontation between these two powerhouse rouges and I really like it! Excited to see where this goes!

This issue is pretty great. The tension is high as Joker and Riddler wage war on one another. King's Joker is especially twisted. A stand-out in this series has been King's often unconventional choice of narration, and his choice for this issue really works. Add to that Mikel Janin's all-star artwork and this issue is a killer.

The art is excellent but I'm still a little iffy on King's narration. He still does the ebb and flow across splash pages like his previous issues. I don't know if that technique always works. Tbh, at the end Batman seems pretty incompetent with a wall of dead people he's failed to save. And on top of that, it seems like he's just recalling events during a lengthy pillow-talk session with Catwoman. The whole Catwoman fetish is actually making me worry it's going to muddle the rest of King's Batman tenure because it's veering a hard left to the previous characterization Scott Snyder built during his New 52 run which if I'm not mistake is still in canon and the War of Jokes and Riddles takes place immediately after Zero Year.

Snyder always showed how Bruce would put off pursuing relationships for the sake of being Batman much to Alfred's chagrin. Remember during the Zero Year Finale in issue #33, Alfred imagines Bruce settling down with Julie Madison only to have to turn her away when Bruce chooses to go crime-fighting. And if continuity holds, he is literally in bed with Selina mere months? after that. So it kind of ruins what Snyder established. Or maybe Batman just likes women with more daddy issues than he has. The art is top notch and the suit in this issue is miles better than the Rebirth suit. Storytelling has me a bit worried, I can't see the entire Rogue's gallery picking sides between Riddler and Joker. Someone would sit out for sure (I guess Bane wasn't invited, I didn't see him among the combatants).more

I usually love King's dueling narrative voices, and it was fine if not a little distracting in this issues. Joker/Riddler ramping up in their rampage while humanizing the victims seemed pretty original, but less than the sum of the parts.

I personally enjoyed this issue more than the last. I think it is a really fun premise and as a fan that is new to DC comics, I really like that it is set early in his career. The art in this book is probably my favorite part. It is unbelievably good. I hear this is going to be a long story, so we will see where this all leads.

It's really hard for me to rate this issue. I love Joker, but I really hate this version of Riddler. I just feel like it's all wrong. Everything I love about that character isn't present here, and it really is dragging down this story for me.